Adebisi Shank

Adebisi Shank are a three-piece instrumental rock band from Wexford and Dublin, Ireland. The self-styled "robot rock" act fuses frenetic hardcore-influenced math rock with the epic scope of post-rock, the freewheeling intensity of heavy metal, and the dancefloor-shredding sensibilities of electronic dance music. Alongside compatriots And So I Watch You from Afar and Redneck Manifesto, Adebisi Shank's music is a product of Ireland's innate tendency toward instrumental music, though their sound and style is more closely likened to U.S. acts like Don Caballero and Battles. Adebisi Shank formed in August of 2006 as a side project of drummer Mick Roe and guitarist Lar Kaye of math rock act Terrordactyl, along with bass player Vinny McCreith, who was at the time performing 8-bit electronic music under his stage name the Vinny Club. Kaye had also previously been a member of Wexford hardcore act Vimanas. The group recorded its first EP, This Is the EP of a Band Called Adebisi Shank, with producer James Eager, releasing it in July of 2007 on local D.I.Y. label Armed Ambitions. Later in 2007, the group toured the U.K. and mainland Europe for the first time with labelmates Marvins Revolt, while 2008 saw a tour of Japan in support of LITE and the EP's release on legendary Japanese label Parabolica. In the summer of 2008, the band received a grant from the Wexford Arts Council to record its debut album in Baltimore with producer J. Robbins (Jawbox, Government Issue). This Is the Album of a Band Called Adebisi Shank was released in September of 2008 on the new D.I.Y. label The Richter Collective, formed by Roe and Barry Lennon of Dublin post-hardcore act Hands Up Who Wants to Die. The album was released in the U.K. in November of the same year. In 2010, the band decamped to record its second studio album with producer TJ Lipple. This Is the Second Album of a Band Called Adebisi Shank was released in Ireland and the U.K. in August of 2010 on The Richter Collective. It was the group's first release to include vocals, courtesy of guests Jape and Mercury Prize-nominated Conor O'Brien of Villagers. A Japanese release followed on Parabolica in November, before Sargent House picked the band up and released the Second Album in the United States and Canada in March of 2011. This Is the Second Album of a Band Called Adebisi Shank was short-listed for the 2010 edition of the Choice Music Prize, which honors the year's best Irish album, but lost out to Two Door Cinema Club's Tourist History. A third album, aptly titled This is the Third Album of a Band Called Adebisi Shank, arrived in 2014 on Sargent House Records. ~ Dave Donnelly